In early Shadows House Season 2 episodes , Emilico and Shaun, who now know that the living dolls are human, speculate about their pasts. At this point, it's no secret that living dolls are normally given a name that's similar to that of their Shadow Masters - but what is Emilico's real name in Shadows House?
Warning: The article below has major spoilers about the Shadows House manga.
Emilico's Real Name Explained
Strange and surprising as it might seem, Emilico didn't have a name when she first moved into the Shadows House. Eventually, she chooses to adopt "Emilico" as her real name as it's the one Kate gave to her.
But it's more complicated than that. The fact that Emilico didn't have a name ties back to her personal history, but what is the case with other living dolls?
Living Dolls' Names Explained
Living dolls are normally given a simple name, one that is most often a nickname or shortened version of their Shadow Master's name.
Thus, Louise's living doll is named Lou, while Patrick's living doll is Ricky.
But where do the Shadows get their names? This is closely related to what the Shadows are.
As morphs, the Shadows mimic the first living entity they interact with until they become identical in shape and adopt core character traits of the person they mimic.
The Shadows House manga reveals that the names of the Shadows are the names the living dolls used to have back in their village when they still lived as humans.
Thus, Rum was once named Shirley, and Shaun was once named John. This is essential for the hierarchy of the Shadows House, as, in case of successful unification, the Shadows who have fully assumed the bodies of their living dolls might return to the village for business.
But does this mean that Emilico used to be named Kate? This is not the case, although Emilico and Shaun assume this might have been the case.
Why Wasn't Emilico Called Kate Before?
Before being taken into the Shadows House, Emilico was an orphan working for a circus.
The circus people never bothered to give her a name and mostly called her "Tightrope" due to her occupation. When she was fired from the circus, Emilico had to seek other employment.
In walked the people from her debut class - Shaun, Lou, Ricky, and Rum, who at that point, still bore their soon-to-be Masters' names.
Like many other children in the nearby village, Emilico's future friends dreamed of working in the Shadows House as this was their only chance to climb the social ladder - and they did not know yet what actually happened to those who were taken into the house.
Wanting to help Emilico, they suggested that she should also apply to work in the Shadows House, but as she didn't have a name, she had to "borrow" someone else's.
The fake name she provided was "Kate" - but why? This is where things become even more complicated and spoiler-y.
Kate, as we know, has memories that reach beyond what a Shadow's memory should. She recalls a time before being a morph, but why is that?
As the manga reveals, that's because she was never a morph. Rather, she was born to a human mother whose body was taken over by a Shadow.
She was then brought up by her mother's servant, Emily, whom she called grandmother.
Kate was a normal child at first, but she soon started losing her features until she was a full Shadow.
From there on, she traveled to the Shadows House, which used to belong to her mother's family before the Shadows took over.
Before that, however, Kate had a chance encounter with the very girl who would later serve her as her living doll.
Related: Who Is Master Robe in Shadows House?
Emilico shows Kate's name in writing, and, as these were the only letters she knew, she wrote the name "Kate" in the application to work at the Shadows House.
Once in the house, Kate pretended to be a morph that bonded with Emilico. While the girl was too brainwashed to remember Kate at the time, Kate bided her time.
She named her living doll Emilico, using the name of her grandmother, Emily, with a cute twist, in defiance of the rules that wanted her to give her living doll a simple name, and the rest is history.
In an interesting twist, Kate got to keep her name precisely because Emilico "borrowed" it to apply for work.
Related: Why Does Edward Hate Kate in Shadows House?
Kate's name then returned to her, as this was what the people in the Shadows House perceived to be her living doll's original name.
The Shadows House manga and mystery anime are still ongoing, so it remains to be seen how the pair will carry out their rebellion moving forward!
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